dUg Pinnick, Naked

Someone who sings "all you got is you, what you gonna do?", who has come on hard blue times, scuffling, in a tough-chew of a world where things are not quite right...that person has my sympathy and gets my ear if there's music worth hearing that goes with it. This totally applies to dUg Pinnick and his latest, Naked (Rock Army MVD 5819A).

Who is dUg? He's leader of hard-rock trio King's X, but mostly on this he's playing everything--lots of guitars with thick drop-down growl, basses, drums, and of course vocals.

What I like about this is the edgy hardness of the group sound, good riffs and structure, songs with punch, and the in-your-face honesty of it all.

His singing reminds me of Smithereens vocals by Pat D. is it (?), but harder and no trace of power pop here, except, yeah there are definite SONGS that hit you full force after a while.

It's a slammer and it's well done!! Whoo!

Blazing, Melodic Metal From Mastodon

Originally posed on November 19, 2008

The metal band Mastodon has a new album coming out next year. Now a few weeks ago I would have met that fact with some indifference. That was before I was sent their 2006 disk Blood Mountain (Relapse). This is no ordinary metal album. The group has worked hard on their arrangements and songs. They are very good musicians. It’s not just speed metal and/or power chords; there’s more here. More variety and innovation in the music itself.

Guitars, bass and drums are all meshed into a playing octopus and each limb is indispensable for the group sound. And each player plays some great things on his instrument. Vocals have the emotion-wrenched angst you would expect from such a band, but they also can zero in on a more classic rock style, more melodic. The CD comes with a DVD disk that documents the making of the album and is one of the better such videos. You get a clear picture of the rehearsal and recording stages at various points in time, and it helps you understand the exceptional musical talents involved.

If I hadn’t stumbled on this one a year late, it would be at the top of my rock records of the year list. What the hell, I mentally put it there anyway. Nice production job too. Mastodon may give you a respect for metal you didn’t already have, if you are a skeptic. Fans of the genre probably already know them and I preach to the converted. Well, I am impressed. I look to the new album with anticipation!